


Dead To The World

by Whitefeathers92



Category: The Saga of Darren Shan - Darren Shan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Book/Movie Fusion, Always female Darren Shan, F/M, Fem!Darren
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-24
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-08 19:46:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3221147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whitefeathers92/pseuds/Whitefeathers92
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story begins with Dianna Shan and her best friend Steve "Leopard" Leonard, who visit an illegal freak show, where an encounter with a vampire and a deadly spider forces them to make life-changing choices.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dead Till Dark

Hi, My name is Dianna Shan. I’m quiet, I keep to myself and I only have one really, really good friend. It’s not because I’m mean, I’m not. Its just that, well, I have this “disability”. I can read minds. And that doesn’t make me too likeable. My best friend, Steve, he knows. He thinks its cool. I was at school, getting my lunch; me and Steve always have lunch on the roof when my locker got slammed shut before I could get my apples. It was Jason Lenier. He gave me a grin and I marveled that other girl could not see the selfishness of that smile.

 

Jason:”Hey, Dianna. You wanna see a movie with tonight?”

 

Rolling my eyes, I shooked my head and sighed.

 

Me:”The answer is no and it will always be no.”

 

With that said, I opened my locker and got my lunch. He grabbed my forearm and I could hear his thought crystal clear. He was thinking nasty things about yours truly. Thankfully, I was pulled away by Steve.

 

Steve:”Back off, man. If she wanted a dog she’ll go to the pound.”

 

Ok! That’s enough of that. I was about to drag him away, but Jason sneered at us.

 

Jason:”Whatever. She’s just a whore anyways.”

 

Steve pitched himself at Jason and started to beat the shit out of him. I tried to grab my friend, to pull him off Jason. (But I might as well go bang my head on a wall for all the good it would do.) I don’t say this often, but thank goodness for Mr.Kersey! He broke up the fight; he also gave Jason a weeks worth of detention for baiting Steve and gave Steve the same treatment for rising to the bait. 

 

Steve was fuming all the way up to the rooftop, whereas I was inclined to view the whole thing as funny.

 

Me:”I still don’t know why he want me so bad. I don’t wear or act like a normal girl, so why?”

 

My best friend snarled and glared at nothing.

 

Steve:”Because you have a space between your legs and he knows you’re a virgin, that’s why.”

 

When he looks over at me, I could tell he was wishing he had bitten his tongue.

 

Me:”Don’t you talk like that. I won’t listen to it.”

 

He mumbled an apology, which I accepted and we ate our lunch in silence. As for saying thank goodness for Mr.Kersey, well, now I hope the next time I see him he’s under a bus. He told my parents, they in turn told me to stay away from Steve. I raised Cain about that, so they took away my phone and allowance for two months, but I got to keep Steve. I told him about it when we walked to school the next day.

 

Steve:”So, wait. Your parents told you that you can’t be friends with me anymore?”

 

I nodded, but he seemed worried.

 

Steve:”What did you say?”

 

I looked at him very seriously.

 

Me:”I said, ‘I can’t. We’re engaged.’”

 

His expression underwent a comical change and we both laughed. Once we got our breathing back to normal, Steve gave me a hesitated glance.

 

Steve:”Have you ever thought that maybe your parents are right? Maybe you shouldn't be friends with me. I mean, I’m nothing. I’m garbage.”

 

I glared at him.

 

Me:”You’re not garbage! You’re my friend. My best friend. I told them that I was gonna give you up just because they told me to do so.”

 

I pulled him into a hug, being careful not to touch his skin. After a moment he hugged me back and when we pulled away a car rolled by and a flier slipped out the window. The flier was poison green and in black jazzy letters it said, “Cirque du freak. One night only. The worlds greatest freak show.” Steve was about to burst at the seams with excitement.

 

Steve:”That looks awesome!”

 

I shared his enthusiasm, but then I remembered something that made me come right back down to earth with a thud.

 

Me:”I can’t go though. I’m grounded for two months.”

 

I was Sullen, with a capital S. Steve rolled his eyes and spoke with a sarcastic tone of voice,

 

Steve:”Right. And we’re also engaged.”

 

I grinned. I’m going with him, rather I like it or not. Anyways, it could be fun, right? Oh, boy. How wrong I was.


	2. Dead Reckoning

Agh! Why isn’t Mr.Kersey under a bus already? He gave the class a lecture about the Cirque being bad and whatnot. But of course, I went with Steve anyways.

When we got to the theater there was a red fingernail moon out in the night sky.

Steve:”Hey, you know that means something when the moon looks like that. I read about it…”

I gave him a teasing smile.

Me:”In one of your vampire books?”

He laughed and nodded. I should explain; Steve is obsessed with vampires, and I on the other hand was obsessed with spiders. (Despite that I’m a girl and people think that’s one more thing that’s weird about me.) I don’t know why. It was like it was in our blood or something.  
Anyways, we parked our bikes as soon as we saw the ticket booth for the theater, so we went over to get ours. But there was a little wooden sign that said, ‘Back in 3 seconds.’, and there was no one there. We both shared a confused look.

Me:”One, two, three. It’s been three seconds.”

Just then a secret door to the booth opened and something threw a little piece of cardboard on the ground. Steve picked it up and now I can see that it says, ‘Money’, we both giggled like school kids at the absurdity of it all.

Steve:”Heh, okay. I guess they want money.”  
Shrugging, he pulls out a roll of bills from his jacket pocket and held it out to the Not So Secret Door.  
Steve:”Hey, I need two tickets, please.”

A little hand shot out, grabbed the money and slammed the door shut. Pissed off, Steve ripped the door open, hand held out and demanded the tickets. Then that ‘Something’ snatched his hand, bit it and went running back into its hidey-hole. Steve hissed in pain and brought his hand to his mouth so lick the bite. Worried, I took his hand into my own and examine it.  
Steve:”God, what was that?”

Me:”Looked like a gnome. You’re gonna want to clean that when you get home, Steve.”

The door opened again, the gnome threw the tickets on the ground and quickly retreated. I Picked them up as Steve slammed the door shut.

Steve:”And it’s gone.”

I gave him his ticket.

Me:”And it can’t make change, it seems.”

Rolling his eyes, Steve pushed me into the theater. We gave our tickets to a very, very, tall man and we went further into the old theater, found the staged and took our seats.

Steve:”Hey! Maybe you can get up there and read people’s minds, Anna!”

I smiles at him, feeling the wry twist to my lips.

Me:”People in town already know I’m crazy, Steve. I don’t need the whole world in on it too."

He frowned, unhappy with the way people have treated me over something I can’t control.

Steve:”It’s not your fault. You can’t always keep a guard help.”

I just shrugged.

Now the show started and we got to see the Wolfman, Corma Limbs, Alexander Ribs, Gertha Teeth, Rhamus Twobellies and Evra the Snake Boy. I like Evra. Next was Madam Truska, and it seems she comes with a fancy chair. She looked around at the crowd and spoke with an accent.

Truska:”Do we have someone brave enough to be my assistant?”

Every males hand went up at this question, even Steve’s. I found all of this amusing, until she pointed her finger at me. Madam Truska pulled me to my feet, pushed me into her chair and started grab at my face, then she placed my hand on hers. I watched in fascination as she grew a beard. Sadly enough, with me still having skin contact with her, I could hear and see her thoughts clearly. I was in a coffin, then I was running, and then someone was throwing a sack over my head. Holy crap! She’s a seer! We both looked at each other in surprised.

Truska:”Who are you? What are you?”

I swallowed hard. She knew.

Me:”My name is Anna Smith. I’m from out of town.”

She let me go and I almost ran to my seat. I know I should have worn gloves. Steve gave me an odd look, but when the announcer said, ‘Ready for more? Larten Crepsley and Madam Octa!’ We turned our attention back to the stage. And then, a man appeared. He was wearing a nice suit of shrieking red, a black tie and a black tophat. He spoke quickly, and his voice was cool and clear, like stream over smooth stones. He wasn’t beautiful, he was rugged and scarred. His hair was orange-and-red flames. Octa was beautiful shades of blue, red, black and white. 

Steve nudged me hard in the ribs and hissed in my ear.

Steve:”Anna, his name’s not Larten Crepsley. It’s Vur Hortsten. He’s a vampire. I saw his painting in one of my vampire books. He’s got the same scars, same hair, the same everything!”

I was surprised when he pressed his lips to the side of my head, but then he thought directly at me. The painting was spot on.

Me:”So, he’s a vampire?”

Steve nodded and Octa landed in my lap. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. When I looked up, I was met with the clear blue eyes of Larten Crepsley. He was holding a cage.

Crepsley:”May I have my spider back, please?”  
W  
ithout waiting for an answer, he scooped Octa back into her cage.

Crepsley:”Now, boys, vampires don’t exist, but if one did and he thought someone knew, he might smother them in their sleep.”

I frowned, not liking the fact that he thinks I’m a boy and I really didn’t want to examine why, but I just gotten an unpleasant shock.

Me:”Steve, this place is about to get raided.”

My friend looked somewhat startled, whereas Crepsley stared at me thoughtfully.

Steve:”Out.”

We got up and ran our separate ways when we heard, ‘That’s it! Show’s over!’ As I ran pass Alexander and Rhamas, there was an exasperated sigh.

Rhamas:”Good Lord, not again.”

I found myself back stage and at a door that read, ‘Crepsley and Octa.’ So I ran in to hide out from the grown ups. Everyone thinks I’m crazy. Well, I’m not. I am insane.


	3. Chapter 3

I stole from a vampire, eavesdropped on my best friend, who wants to become a vampire himself and got into a car with a stranger. I had a full night. I took Octa with me to school so I could keep an eye on her. When I was alone at my locker, I pulled her out.

 

Me:”Hey. Hey, I’m gonna try to get you some food, okay? Just hold on one sec. I’m gonna get some flies from the window still, alright?”

 

I spoke in that baby voice I use with animals when I think nobody’s listening, never thinking how incongruous it sounded. When I was putting her away in my locker someone spoke right by my ear.

 

Steve:”Hey, why have you been acting so weird?”

 

Yeah, so, I’ve been avoiding. What’s it to you? I became tense and I could feel my fake smile yanking the corners of my mouth up.

 

Me:”You mean I’ve been acting weirder then normal?”

 

Steve was not amused with my feigned ignorance, I could tell. His easy smile was replaced with a frown.

 

Steve:”Anna, you were just talking to your locker.”

 

I scoffed to hide my panic.

 

Me:”What? No, I wasn’t!”

 

He grinned and nodded.

 

Steve:”Yes, you were!”

 

So the struggle to open my locker started and I lost. Steve stared at Octa’s cage with wide eyes as I closed the door.

 

Steve:”Holy shit! That’s… That’s the…”

 

I bit my bottom lip.

 

Me:”Yeah, I went back to the theater after the show and I kind of borrowed her.”

 

He gripped my shoulders and gave me a little shake. Then he stood looking at me with wide silvery blue eyes and I felt a surge of worry rushing out from him. Touching accelerates my disability, makes it imperative that I hear the person touching me.

 

Steve:”You stole from a vampire? Do you realize you’re dead?”

 

His hands dropped away at the sound of class bell.

 

Me:”Shh! He is not the Godfather of vampires, okay?”

 

Steve noticed that people started to fill up the hall and spoke in a whisper.

 

Steve:”Wait a second. When did you go to Vur Horsten’s room, and what did you see?”

 

I looked around like I’d been doing something bad. And I had, in my book. Eavesdropping on a friend was a bad thing to do.

 

Me:”Alright, I saw everything. Steve, are you crazy? Why would you to become a vampire?”

 

He shook his head.

 

Steve:”Listen, you can’t understand. You have everything. What do I have? A secret fiancé?”

 

I felt a rising tide of anger at him.

 

Me:”Oh, yeah, I have everything alright! Everything but a sane mind!”

 

He looked at me apologetically and opened up my locker to grab Octa’s cage.

 

Me:”Hey, leave her in there,okay?”

 

I was still miffed at him and he knows it.

 

Steve:”I want to see it.”

 

I sighed and rolled my eyes.

 

Me:” ‘Her’, not ‘it’. She is a girl after all.”

 

He made a comment about Octa being hideous and that made me frown at him.

 

Me:”Oh, shut up! She’s beautiful!”

 

Rolling his eyes, Steve was about to say something, but the second bell rang, Startled he dropped the cage and the latch to the door of the cage popped open. As Octa tries to escape, she scared a big group of kids, creating chaos. Steve then grabbed a broom from the janitor and chased her, try to kill her. As I tried to stop him from doing so, Octa disappeared, or so we thought. She slipped into Steve’s shirt, crawls out of his collar, bites him on the cheek and makes good on her escape. Everything went by in a blur, thank goodness. I don’t want to remember it, didn’t want to even know what was happening. But one moment stood out. When it was nightfall, I went back to the old theater. It was empty.

 

???:”So what have you come to steal from me this time? Thief!”

 

Startled, I whipped around so fast, I hurt my neck. The voice belong to Larten Crepsley and I began to stutter out an apology.

 

Me:”I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! But please listen! Octa bit my best friend, Steve and he’s in the hospital, in a coma, because of me. And I was wondering if you had an antidote.”

 

He didn’t speak or blink; he was immobile. I started to pull at my short hair nervously.

 

Crepsley:”I do.”

 

I said nothing, knowing that there was more to it. I have great faith in my instincts, and sure enough it didn’t play my false.

 

Crepsley:”But I only have a couple of doses left. Why should I waste any on some little psychopath?”

 

Well… Damnit. He has a point. I’m not blind to Steve’s faults, but I care about him.

 

Me:”Please, I’ll do anything!”

 

He raised a flaming eyebrow at me and I quickly backtracked.

 

Me:”Okay, I’m gonna have to renovate that last sentences, but look, I’m really sorry I stole Octa. I don’t know what came over me. I never steal things.”

 

When he started walking over to me, I quickly backed up and when he spoke, his voice was as slithery as a snake on a slide.

 

Crepsley:”Why not?”

 

Me:”Because it’s wrong.”

 

I broke into a nervous sweat. I couldn’t believe I was trying to bargain with a vampire.

 

Crepsley:”So then learned a valuable moral lesson.”

 

I nodded my head enthusiastically as he backed me into corner.

 

Crepsley:”And you’ll never do anything wrong again, as long as you live.”

 

Now, wait one damn minute! I can’t promise that and I told him so. He just stared at me.

 

Crepsley:”So you’re an honest thief.”

 

I blinked and he was gone.

 

Crepsley:”What did Mr. Tiny want?”

 

Was all this popping up really necessary? I shrugged and asked him to clarified what he said.

 

Crepsley:”The fat man in the limousine!”

 

Color me confused.

 

Me:”I don’t know, something about souls… And destiny. And he knew where I lived.”

 

Again, he disappeared. This time I just turned around.

 

Crepsley:”Looks like you’re in deep shit, my larcenous friend. Mr. Tiny doesn’t just take a random interest in people. And the people he does take an interest in wind up dead or worse.”

 

Crepsley turned his back on me.

 

Me:”I may know the answer to this, but what’s worse than dead?”

 

He paused, then turned back to look at me, with a frightening smile on his face.

 

Crepsley:”Oh. Lots of things. Alright. I’ll do it. I’ll make you a bargain. You’ll become my assistant. I’ll turn you into a half vampire. You’ll be able to go out in the daylight, very useful for me. You’ll do chores for me and guard my coffin on the road. And in return, I’ll try and keep Mr. Tiny away from you. Oh, and I’ll save your stupid friend Steve, despite the fact that he threatened to kill me.”

 

I don’t care about Mr. Tiny, but I had to make sure about Steve.

 

Me:”You’ll save Steve?”

 

He shrugged his shoulders.

 

Crepsley:”Why not?”

 

There was one more thing I want to know.

 

Me:”If I became a half vampire, would I have to kill people?”

 

He circled me, gave me a lecture about the two types of vampires and that they are almost at war with one another.

 

Crepsley:”So, want to become a vampire? It’s a lonely life, but there’s lots of it.”

 

I hesitated and he must have saw because he got into my personal space.

 

Crepsley:”Do you wanna go home and ask mommy and daddy? Do they make all the decisions for good little boys like you?”

 

I scowled at him. He still thinks I’m a boy?

 

Me:”No, they don’t.”

 

He scoffed at me, walked away and said mockingly.

 

Crepsley:”Poor Steve doesn’t have much time lift.”

 

This is just plain blackmail.

 

Me:”Fine, I’ll do it. To save my friend, not for any other reason. So get the antidote.”

 

And he was gone, I turned to see him on the stage. When I saw the vail, I was relieved.

 

Me:”Thank you. Thank you so much.”

 

I crawled up on the stage when he pocketed the antidote.

 

Crepsley:”First things first. Let’s test your blood.”

 

One of my hands went to my neck while the other was held out. I could swear he rolled his eyes.

 

Crepsley:”I’m not gonna bite you in the jugular. I could kill you that way.”

 

He stuck me with one of his fingernails and licked the blood away. He looked at me in an unmistakable way. With hunger. He closed his eyes and drew a shuddering breath.

 

Crepsley:”Mmm. You have good blood. This will work. Alright, hold up your hands. We’re going to exchange blood.”

 

There was a thickness to his voice that made me nervous, but I did what I was told. He stuck all ten of my fingers and did the same to himself; then he put the tips of our fingers together.

 

Crepsley:”This may hurt when it gets to your heart.”

 

I was confused, but then the pain was immediate, intense, unrelenting and gone. I was left wheezing.

 

Me:”I feel cold.”

 

Crepsley was putting on his cloak.

 

Crepsley:”Lick your fingers.”

 

I did what he told me and I watched in fascination as the wounds healed over.

 

Me:”Whoa, is that a vampire power?”

 

He straightens his cloak.

 

Crepsley:”Yes. The rest will take a while.”

 

I looked at him with wide eyes.

 

Me:”There’s more? What will I be able to do? Can I turn into a bat and stuff?”

 

Crepsley:”No, that’s bullshit.”

 

Crude language coming out in that cold sweet voice made me shiver. He gave me his back.

 

Crepsley:”Now hop on my back. We’re going to flit.”

 

Me:”What?”

 

He was exasperated with me, I can tell.

 

Crepsley:”Just shut up and hop on my back.”

 

Weirded out, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and my legs circled his waist. He took a breath, while mine was knocked out of me. We were at the hospital; I was doubled over with my hands on my knees.

 

Crepsley:”You held your breath, right? Did I not tell you to hold your breath?”

 

I shook my head.

 

Crepsley:”Oh… Sorry.”

 

When I got my breathing under control, he made me get on his back again and he scalded the hospital wall.

 

Crepsley:”Hold on.”

 

I hissed into his ear.

 

Me:”Like I’d let go!”

 

When we got into Steve’s room I had to keep my eyes wide so the tears wouldn’t roll out because my best friend was as pale as death.

 

Me:”He looks horrible. Can you give him the antidote, please?”

 

Crepsley came to my side and pulled the vial out of his pocket.

 

Crepsley:”She really didn’t like him.”

 

I watched, nervously, as he gave Steve the medicine and when he was done he seemed proud with himself. With that done, my best friend twitched.

 

Me:”That’s it, right? He’s gonna be better now?”

 

Crepsley:”That’s it?”

 

He walked over to the window and looked at me expectedly. Oh. Right.

 

Me:”Could I please have some time to say goodbye to my family? I’m not trying to back out of our deal or anything like that. I’m committed to this. It’s just… Please?”

 

I was ashamed that my voice was so quivery and I didn’t expect him to answer. I thought he’d just grab me and take me away, so I was surprised when he spoke.

 

Crepsley:”I’ll give you three days, I’ll come for you on the third night. Oh, and try not to do something stupid, like kill your family.”

 

With that, he was gone. I sat down in the visitors chair and after a minute, I drifted off to sleep.


End file.
